Situated at the southern end of The Mound (where the A 9 crosses Loch Fleet) - NH 758 975.
I parked where it says cattle grid and walked up the minor road to Little Torboll then up to the summit and back by the track passing Cambusmore Lodge. About one and a half hours. An easy one to start with.
At Torboll I met and chatted with the farmer and he showed me where the track shown on the map went - there was not the slightest trace of it on the ground. There was no path all the way to the summit or back down as far as the returning track. The walk up the road at the start was often fringed with gorse in bloom at its peak - heavy scent of coconut.
Talking to the farmer we identified the distant massive hilltop monument to the Duke of Sutherland, he who was responsible for The Clearances. I suggested it should be pulled down and he said there had been the odd attempt, but then went on to express his tolerant attitude saying that those crofters were living a pretty miserable life anyway, and it would not have been sustainable for long. Back to Peter Sellars again, "a merciful release".
The views of the coast and Loch Fleet were great. There is something special about hills close to the sea.
On the returning track there was a monument/grave to Frederick William Wignall and wife and son. He died in 1939 and owned the estate. I think they were part of the Tate and Lyle empire. He had the letters LD after his name. I can't Google at the moment, any offers for the interpretation?
Back in Golspie I found the Poppy Coffee shop - buttered jam scone and tea with free wi fi. I managed to send the previous post with the picture. Posting on the blog from this area is proving to be difficult.
In the interest of progress I am going to try and send this then send pictures later if I can?
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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Deputy Lieutenant. Was also a Justice of the Peace. Listed in Peerage books.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying following your trip, Conrad.
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ReplyDeleteThe Crow - thanks for that. I eventually go there myself but using the iPad with poor signal is SO SLOW. It looks like this guy married into the wealth of the Tate and Lyle sugar magnate family, although he was no pauper himself.
ReplyDeleteDoctor of Law? Are you sure you weren't talking to the Duke of Sutherland in mufti?
ReplyDeleteAs a measure of the collective wealth of the Tate family (and, just conceivably, their accumulated guilt) they did endow the eponymous gallery in London, where we are now able to view the Turners.
You may do your readers a great service by rendering phonetic pronunciations of all these places you visit. Otherwise it looks distinctly snobbish, as if you've taken on your Sgurr Nan Gillean mode.
RR - I have looked at phonetic spellings and they are not all that easy to interpret anyway. It is hard enough doing these posts on the hoof without cross referencing backwards and forwards between sources I have no idea of pronunciations so you will just have to suffer with me.
ReplyDeleteI am currently sat outside a café in Golspie that has free Internet but is still not open, bu wi fi is receivable. That is five miles from my caravan site. Fortunately today it is on the way to the hill that I want to climb.
Frederick William Wignall was the Deputy Lieutenant of Sutherland. He was married to Edith Marguerite Tate the granddaughter of Henry Tate who was the founder of the Tate and Lyle sugar empire. Their son Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Edwin Barton Wignall was married to Margaret Susan Ferguson who was the great aunt of Sarah Duchess of York.
ReplyDeleteUnknown - I'm not sure if you are the same "unknown" who comments from time to time but all comments are welcome. That is an interesting bit of genealogy. Looks like he did well out of marrying into the sugar empire.
ReplyDelete